Adopted by the 57^th WMA General Assembly, Pilanesberg, South Africa, October 2006

1. Whereas air travel is a common mode of transportation and is used by people of all ages every day;

2. Whereas high standards of safety for adult passengers in air travel have been achieved;

3. Whereas strict safety procedures are being followed in air travel that greatly increase the chance of survival during emergency situations for properly secured adults;

4. Whereas infants and children are not always guaranteed adequate and appropriate safety measures during emergency situations in aircraft;

5. Whereas restraint and safety systems for infants and children have been successfully tested to reduce the risk of suffering injuries during emergency situations in aircraft;

6. Whereas child restraint systems have been approved for usage in standard passenger aircrafts and successfully introduced by several airlines;

Therefore, the World Medical Association

1. Expresses grave concern regarding the fact that adequate safety systems for infants and children have not been generally implemented;

2. Calls on all airline companies to take immediate steps to introduce safe, thoroughly tested and standardized child restraint systems;

3. Calls on all airline companies to train their staff in the appropriate handling and usage of child restraint systems;

4. Calls for the establishment of a universal standard or specification for the testing and manufacturing of child restraint systems; and

5. Calls on national legislators and air transportation safety authorities to:

   1. require for infants and children, as a matter of law, safe individual child restraint systems that are approved for use in standard passenger aircraft;

   2. ensure that airlines provide child restraint systems or welcome passengers using their own systems, if the equipment is qualified and approved for the specific aircraft;

   3. ban the usage of inappropriate "Loop Belts" frequently used to secure infants and children in passenger aircraft;

   4. provide appropriate information about infant and child safety on board of aircraft to all airline passengers.